The "I Need Peace" Women's Initiative will gather in Güven Park in central Ankara at 10:00 a.m. on July 8 and march to the Parliament to urge it to take responsibility for the ongoing process regarding a resolution to the Kurdish question. Women from many provinces across Kurdistan and Turkey are expected to join the march.

Peace commission

Fatma Koçyiğit, a member of the "I Need Peace" Women's Initiative, stated that the Parliament must take responsibility and form a “Peace Commission.” She emphasized that women have played an active role in the peace struggle for many years and said, “The women's movement in Turkey, the Kurdish women's movement, and the feminist movement are coming together in a common search for peace and a democratic resolution to the Kurdish question. Especially during this recent process, which began on October 1, 2024, and has moved into a process of dialogue between the parties, women have intensified their efforts to socialize peace. As global examples show, achieving and sustaining peace is difficult without the participation of women.”

Koçyiğit noted that women from all over Kurdistan and Turkey will attend the march in Ankara. “Through this event, we aim for broad representation, with women participating from different ethnic backgrounds, faiths, and ideologies. This gathering will also include groups such as the Peace Mothers, who have paid a heavy price, and will showcase the diversity and strength of the women’s movement,” she said.

Three main demands

Fatma Koçyiğit outlined the three main demands of the “I Need Peace” Initiative as follows:

* Abolition of the Anti-Terror Law (TMK): This law restricts freedom of expression by opening investigations against social media posts or press statements. It blocks democratic participation in both politics and society. The path to democratic engagement must be cleared.

* Release of ill prisoners: Prisoners who are being held in violation of European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) rulings and under unjust enforcement regulations must be released. Ill prisoners must be freed immediately.

* An end to the policy of state-appointed trustees: The trustees dismantle the gains made by women in the public sphere and in local governments. Women’s centers are shut down, and social projects like communal baking houses are eliminated. Local administrations governed from a women’s perspective ensure women’s safe and active participation in social life. The trustee policy is also a usurpation of the people’s will.

Call for participation in the Ankara march

Fatma Koçyiğit emphasized the urgent need for peace and socialization of peace. She concluded, “We call on all women to gather at 10:00 a.m. on 8 July in Güven Park, Ankara, and to march to the Parliament. Let us raise our voices with the slogan, ‘Parliament to task, women to the peace struggle!’ As women, we will not remain silent despite the atmosphere of fear and concern. We will raise our voices against authoritarian regimes and we will not give up the struggle to build a peace rooted in society.”